The present invention relates to devices for holding open flexible bags so that the bags may be filled.
Keeping a flexible bag open during the initial stages of a bag filling process has long been recognized as a problem. Flexible bags, such as the traditional thin, plastic lawn and household bags, do not have the inherent stiffness to remain open and thus must be held open for filling until the bag is sufficiently full to stand open without support. Without external or internal structural support to hold the bag open, a user must either hold the bag open with one hand while filling with the other, or find an assistant to hold it open.
Various approaches have been advanced to provide structural support for holding a flexible bag open. Flat devices to provide such support must be rolled or folded and inserted into the bag. Positioning the device inside the bag, however, can be as cumbersome as filling the bag. Typically, the bag must be held open with one hand and the device held rolled or folded with the other hand while positioning the device inside the bag. For example, the flat, resiliently deformed sheet disclosed in the Rylander U S. Pat. No. 4,749,011 dated June 7, 1988 must be rolled into a cylinder. The folded device disclosed in the U.S Pat. No. 4,037,778 issued July 26, 1977 to Boyle is also awkward to insert.
In other approaches, the end of the structure first placed inside the bag is generally the same size as the end of the structure holding the bag open, thus offering no shape advantage to the user trying to position the device inside the bag. See, for example, Boyle and Rylander, supra, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,530,533 issued July 23, 1985 to Dieter, and 3,934,803 issued Jan. 27, 1976 to Paulus, Jr.
Once the device is inside the bag, it is desirable to have the portion of the device holding the bag adjacent the ground remain flat so that the device can be used as a scoop or so that articles can be swept into the bag like a dustpan. Devices such as disclosed by Rylander, supra, are not flat, and devices such as disclosed by Boyle, supra, are designed to be used upright and would collapse if laid flat.
It is also desirable that the device holding the mouth of the bag open not restrict the size or shape of the opening so that oversized or irregularly shaped articles may be inserted. In the devices disclosed in the Dieter and Paulus, Jr. patents, supra, for example, there is a fixed size and shape for the opening.
Manufacturing complexity, ease of transportation, and cost of materials are also of importance in such devices. The device disclosed by Paulus, Jr., supra. for example, includes several wood slats and locking tabs and is relatively complex, difficult to transport once assembled, and expensive.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel device for holding a flexible bag open which obviates many of the problems of known devices and which is easily manufactured from low-cost material and is easy to use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel device for holding a flexible bag open which is able to stand upright without external support so that the device may be easily positioned inside a flexible bag by a single user.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a device for holding a flexible bag open that is shaped to facilitate positioning of the device inside the bag, wherein the end of the device first positioned inside the bag is smaller than the end of the device holding open the bag.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a device for holding a flexible bag open that may be placed flat on the ground for easy filling.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for holding a flexible bag open which has resiliently responsive side panels for accommodating bags of varying size and which facilitates changing the shape of the bag opening.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a device for holding a flexible bag open that is lightweight and made of sheet cardboard and a single length of wire.
These and many other objects and advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of preferred embodiments.